Where the Music Led Them
by CrazyKitten2112
Summary: This story is my own twisted version of Fear and Light. Before, during, and after reading these two books I schemed up a lot of scenes for them when I listened to my iPod. Every chapter is named after the song it is inspired by. Rated T for suggestive material, swearing, and all the other stuff you hear about in music nowadays. I don't own Gone or any music. Lots of shipping!
1. Misery

**A/N: This chapter was based off of "Misery" by P!nk featuring Stephen Tyler. I obviously don't own the song, which comes off of her P!nk's first album Missundaztood.  
**Diana and Sam were walking along the banks of Tramonto together. The sun was setting and shadows were beginning to fall on the banks of the crystal clear lake.

"It's getting dark, I should probably go home," Diana told Sam. She would never admit it, but she didn't want to have to go back to sleep alone. It had been a whole month since she'd broken up with Caine and she was still finding it hard to sleep alone with nothing but her regrets to keep her coming.

Sam was dreading having to go home too. He couldn't never completely get Astrid out of his brain, but when he was alone his mind refused to generate thoughts about anything else. He would love to be able to get over her, but his mind was still trapped on the "Astrid" setting. It had been fine when they were dating but now it was just depressing.

Diana laughed.

"What's so funny?" Sam wondered.

"We're both idiots. Both of our exes treated us like shit, but neither of us are really over them yet," Diana explained.

"Wait if you're not over Caine then why did you spend the last hour bitching about him?" Sam wondered.

"Because I'm a girl," Diana replied, "It's what we do. We just get so pissed when the guy we lo-like turns into a douche."

"Wasn't he always a douche?" Sam asked.

"Only like 95% of the time," Diana responded, "But that five percent of the time when he wasn't was so amazing that I didn't have the heart to leave him."

"But you did, eventually," Sam reminded her.

"Yeah," Diana agreed, "But it didn't work out the way I thought it would. I thought that I could leave him and he'd be out of my mind for the rest of my life, but it didn't work that way."

"Do you think that's how Astrid feels now?" Sam wondered.

"Do you want the "typical Diana" answer, the "girl who's still kind of into you" answer, the "best friend" answer, or the "what I actually think is happening" answer?" Diana wondered.

"I'll take em all, just tell me which one's which," Sam decided.

"Alright, first we have our "typical Diana" answer," Diana announced, her voice silky with faux drama. Then, she went back to her normal voice and said, "I don't know! She could've sprouted wings and joined a flock of the weird seagulls with talons for all I care."

Sam smiled, it was probably the first time Diana had seen him do that since Astrid left him.

"Okay, now this one's the "girl who's still slightly into you" answer," Diana informed him. She leaned up against him and ruffled his hair. The she leaned in so close that her lips were touching his ear, and whispered, "She probably broke up with you so you could go out with somebody hotter, like me."

Much to Sam's dismay, Diana backed away from him.

"I liked that one," Sam admitted sheepishly.

"Okay…the next one was the "best friend" answer. I forgot for a second there," Diana began. She smiled as widely as she could and said, "It's okay Sam, Astrid's gonna come back any day."

"You should call that one the Edilio answer," Sam suggested.

"Alright, that was the "Edilio" answer. Now, here's what I actually think is happening," Diana told Sam, "I don't think she's thinking about you much right now. She's probably obsessing over the fact that she just killed her little brother. I sure as hell wasn't thinking about how much I loved Caine after…"

"After what? Why did you trail off?" Sam wondered.

"It's nothing," Diana muttered.

"If it's nothing you should just tell me," Sam encouraged.

"Fine, it's something," Diana corrected herself.

"You still tell me," Sam told her.

After a long moment of thought she finally spoke.

"Alright," she agreed, "But don't tell anybody else. Not Dekka, or Edilio, or even Astrid is she ever comes back."

"I won't tell anybody, I swear," Sam promised.

Diana took a deep breath and whispered, "I'm a cannibal."

Sam didn't know how to react.

"It wasn't done in cold blood! We were so starving and the guy had just died," Diana tried to explain herself, "It wasn't my idea! I think it was Caine's! It's all his fault! I-"

"It's alright, Diana," Sam cut her off, "I was starving too! I can understand."

"No! You don't! Nobody ever will!" Diana exclaimed hysterically. She seemed like she was on the verge of tears.

"You sure? Because there was this one time when Edilio really didn't want to bury this one fat kid, and I was feeling especially starving that day so I-"

Sam's attempt at using a joke to calm Diana down earned him a slap on the face.

"Sorry," Sam apologized, "Too soon?"

"A little," Diana snarled. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Sorry," Sam repeated, "I shouldn't have been so insensitive."

"Meh, you were more sensitive than Caine," Diana replied.

"But didn't he also…" Sam began, not feeling the need to finish the sentence.

"Yeah," Diana responded, "Didn't mean he felt sorry about it."

"That's just sick," Sam decided.

"My sentiments exactly," Diana agreed bitterly.

They both stood there awkwardly. Both of them were truly miserable alone, but when they were together each of them felt a little better. Neither of them had been able to open up the same way with Astrid and Caine. Both of them had always been very harsh and stubborn. It had made Astrid nearly undefeatable in an argument and Cain almost completely inaccessible when Diana was searching for comfort. That had plunged both Sam and Diana into a state of misery that neither of them had truly been able to escape.

"Hey Sam," Diana began.

"What?"

"Do you ever think that the only reason we haven't moved on is because we haven't had anybody to move on to?" Diana wondered.

"No, but that does make a lot of sense," Sam agreed, "But who would really want a miserable sad sack like me?"

"How about a miserable sad sack like me?" Diana suggested.

Sam wanted to say yes, but he couldn't find the right words. So, he just listened to what his gut told him and kissed her.


	2. I Will Survive

**A/N: If you think Sastrid is the cutest couple on the face of the earth do not read this chapter. I usually don't have strong feelings towards them as a couple, but whenever I listen to this song I get mad that Sam took Astrid back at the start of Fear. This chapter is based off of the Cake version of I Will Survive. I know it is not the original version but it is one of the first I heard and probably my favorite.**

It had been almost four whole months since Sam had even thought of Astrid. He couldn't deny that he'd missed her at first, though. He had no idea how to get by, much less be happy without her. He had thought that she was the love of his life, but now he realized how unrealistic he had been to think that. He had just been tricking himself by only remembering the good memories about her, when the truth of the matter was that most of the memories were bad. Now, Sam Temple only had to do one more thing to be completely over her.

Sam had a cooler loaded with every memento he had kept from their time together. He was walking down to the shores of lake, so he could get rid of them for good when Astrid emerged from the woods. He had so many questions for her. Why was she there? Where had she gone? Why had she left? Why was her hair so short? Why was she carrying a gun? Sam didn't ask any of them, though. He just tried his best to keep on walking,

"Sam!" Astrid called, running up behind him.

"What's up?" he asked, refusing to look her in the eyes. He was still angry at her for breaking his heart.

"Well, I noticed a mysterious black stain creeping up the wall and I wanted to warm you," Astrid explained.

"Is there anything I can do to stop it?" Sam wondered.

"No, I just thought you would want to know," Astrid said.

"Is that the only reason why you came?" Sam asked.

"Well, I also presumed that you had missed me."

"I did, Astrid. I really did, but then I did some thinking and I kind of moved on, or whatever."

Astrid looked shocked. Sam never thought he would've felt this way, but he wished that Astrid hadn't come back. All she was going to bring was awkwardness, hostility, and arguments.

"You shouldn't be here Astrid," Sam told her.

"Why not?" Astrid wondered sadly.

"You could've come to the lake with me if you had wanted," Sam said.

"There was a time limit!?" Astrid asked, beginning to lose her temper, "That's unreasonable!"

"I don't think a four month time limit is all that unreasonable," Sam countered. He was trying to sound as nice as possible, "You didn't honestly expect me just to lay down on the floor like a loser until you came back, did you?"

"I expected you to at least wait for me!"

"Well, I didn't."

"Why not!?"

"You treated me like crap!"

"Says the boy who made out with Taylor!"

"Oh, just get over it!"

"I will not just get over it!"

"Why not? I did."

Astrid was furious. Her face was turning scarlet. Sam wouldn't have been surprised if steam started coming out of her ears.

"How do you think you're going to get by without me!?" She wondered.

"I don't really have a plan or anything," Sam said, "I'm just living."

"I'd like to see where that gets you," Astrid scoffed.

"It's already gotten me pretty far."

"You're being a heartless jerk! Did you even care that I left?!"

"Of course I did, Astrid. When you first left I was about ready to give up on life. I won't deny that I still have some feelings for you, either. I've been feeling like a loser for months now, but I'm done with that now."

"Why, you can have me back and everything can be perfect!"

"I have a new girlfriend, Astrid."

Astrid's mouth fell open.

"Don't look so surprised. It's not like you're the only girl I can ever have feelings for."

"Who is it? Tell me!"

"Diana," Sam murmured.

"Diana!? That seductive little witch?!"

"Leave her alone! She actually treats me with respect, unlike you did!"

"Oh, come on, Sam! You can't honestly tell me that Diana Ladris is a better girlfriend than I was!"

"Hey, I was surprised too, but she's actually been nice to me."

"That bitch?"

"She's not a bitch, just brutally honest."

"I don't have to take this!" Astrid declared.

"Then just go."

"Where!?"

"I don't know, back to wherever you've been hiding out for the past four months."

"Fine, I will!" Astrid exclaimed.

Sam watched as she stormed off into the woods. Sam was almost relived to be rid of her. He didn't hate her, by any means, but he definitely wasn't sad to see her go. Sam knew that he would never forget her. He'd recall their happy memories fondly and hopefully he'd learn something from their mistakes. Sam would probably always have feelings for Astrid, but he didn't need her anymore. She was just another ex-girlfriend now. No, that wasn't true. Astrid was special. She had been the first girl that he had actually loved, so he'd never truly forget her. She would remain in his mind as a memory of somebody he had once needed to get by. Now, Sam had changed though. He could get by on his. For the first time in a long while, Sam felt happy.


	3. Happy Ever After

**A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is kind of short, but it needed to be in here. This song, Happy Ever After by Gin Wigmore, is what inspired me to write this fanfic. Also, sorry my updates on this are so slow. Please check out my forum, Songs of The FAYZ since I know that you like Gone and music. PLEASE REVIEW!**

Astrid had felt dead for the last four months of her life. Her guilt had squelched the life out of every other emotion she had ever been capable of feeling. She had lived like a walking corpse until she'd laid eyes on Sam. Then, it all came flooding back to her. All the love, all the hurt, all the pain. She needed him back. Unfortunately, he didn't need her anymore. And why was that? Diana Ladris.

He was off doing who knows what with that slut. Her only reassurance that they weren't doing anything all that bad was the fact that Diana was pregnant. She didn't want to think about what would go down between them when the child was born. Even if Sam had left Diana to get back together with Astrid, he and Diana would've remained friends. That would've been fine, if Diana wasn't Diana. A girl like that was never just a friend.

Astrid didn't expect the relationship to last long. Diana would probably dump Sam the second she saw somebody hotter. Astrid couldn't help but wonder which girl's arms Sam would throw himself into when that happened.

Astrid had only once place left to go. Home. It had once been a perfectly managed, neat little house that Astrid had shared with Little Pete and her parents. All of them were long gone now. She didn't even have memories of them because Drake had burnt it down right after the FAYZ began. Now, looking at the ashy wreckage, Astrid felt like the house was the perfect metaphor for her own personal metamorphosis. That was not a happy thought.

"Hey! What are you doing out so late!?" a loud, clear and authoritative voice called. Even though Astrid couldn't see who had spoken in the dark of the night, she knew exactly who was speaking. The logical part of her mind told her not to speak.

"Answer me when I'm talking to you!" Caine Soren commanded.

Astrid did some quick thinking as Caine started to walk towards her.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you the first time," Astrid lied sweetly.

"Astrid?" Caine asked.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Astrid asked, "There's no need to take me hostage. Sam doesn't care for me anymore."

"Did he dump you?"

"No. I dumped him, but when I tried to take him back he wasn't interested."

"Why not? I thought he was obsessed with you."

"Guess he's obsessed with somebody else now."

"Who?"

"Your ex-girlfriend, Diana."

Silence. It seemed as if the entire world had been set on mute until Astrid heard the footsteps of Caine storming off.

"Nice chatting with you too, Caine," Astrid muttered bitterly.

It had been the longest day of Astrid's life. She was in a bad mood and wasn't in the mood to be disrespected by anyone, no matter how powerful they were.

"Get back here, Caine Soren! I wasn't done talking to you!" Astrid shouted into the night.

Caine responded by using his powers to casually swat flick Astrid into the rubble of her old house, as if she were simply a fallen leaf that had landed on his shoulder.

"Now you are!" He teased.

It was strange to think that fifteen years of total normality had led up to this. Before the FAYZ, Astrid had never done anything that was truly bad in her entire life. Once the adults disappeared it had all gone downhill. She had used the immature concept of "no adults, no rules" as an excuse, to manipulate, lie to, and even murder people.

It was the FAYZ. Astrid hadn't been born an evil person, Perdido Beach had turned her into one. No, that wasn't true. At least she hoped it wasn't. Astrid liked to believe that she was just a misguided girl who had made the wrong choices. She'd always had everyone's best interests in mind. Her heart was still pure, wasn't it?

Yes, it was. Deep down inside she was still just the naïve mess of a girl who'd believed that Sam Temple could keep her safe from all harm. Looking back on it, that was an idiotic thought. Sam could've never could've been able to completely protect her. In order to do that, he would have to protect her from her own unstable mind.

"I hate this town," Astrid whispered as a salty tear streamed down her face.


	4. Mr Brightside

**A/N: I had so many songs that I could've chosen for this chapter, but I ended up selecting Mr. Brightside by The Killers. The next chapter which will be "Bird Song" by Florence + The Machine. Can anyone guess what that chapter will be about? Also, you are free to suggest any of your own favorite songs for future chapters. You can really do anything from giving me the entire chapter concept, or you could simply tell me the character you associate it with. You could even just give me the title of a totally random song you like and let me work it into the story. I will try to use any and all suggestions. No more than three songs per person, please.**

Caine walked down the street with a forced spring in his step and a big fake smile plastered onto his face. He whistled a happy tune in an attempt to lift his own spirits. It wasn't working. He couldn't stop thinking about what Astrid had said to him the night before. Caine couldn't let it get to him, though. A strong leader would never let something like that affect him. And Caine was nothing if not a strong leader.

Still he couldn't quiet his restless mind. How had it happened? How long had they been together? Was Sam a better kisser than he was? Was it a serious relationship? What were they doing right now? Were they together?

It took all of Caine's resistance not to run down to Lake Tramonto and split the up. He didn't know what splitting them up would mean, but he was willing to do anything. Anything but hurt Diana. He had nothing against hurting Sam. In fact, he would probably give anything for the chance to kill him.

Why did it have to be Sam? She knew Caine had always been jealous of him. He had tried to hide it, buy she'd known. Everybody had known!

_Get a grip. Nobody wants to come to your pity party, _Caine told himself. He wished Diana would've been there to say it to him. It would've sounded so much better out loud, in her voice, than in his mind.

There had to be something good about this. There just had to be. Caine thought for a few seconds, then he realized all the wonderful possibilities that Diana practically destroying his heart had opened up for him. He could date other girls, he could focus on being king, he didn't have to try and be a good person anymore, he could…come back to that subject later when managed to think of something else.

Days passed, and he never thought of anything. In fact, all he did was lose faith in his first three reasons. It was the same thing every day. Go through the motions, pretend to be happy. Smile and wave. Smile and wave. It felt so fake. Caine's desire to be king faded with each passing day. How was he supposed to focus on some stupid town full of needy children that he'd never actually cared about when he was constantly being haunted by Diana. It was truly a viscous cycle. Caine would be reminded of Diana, which would make him wonder what she was doing with Sam. He would remind himself that Diana was pregnant to convince himself that they couldn't be doing anything serious, which would obviously remind him that she was pregnant. Typically, Caine tries to forget that little detail. He did not want to think of his beautiful queen with an enlarged belly. He did not want to think of the reason why it was so large. He did not want to think of anything that would happen once she'd returned to her former weight. In fact, he did not want to think of Diana at all. Still, he couldn't stop.

Caine Soren was officially losing his mind. He wanted to hurt Sam. No, Caine wanted to make him suffer the way that he'd suffered. Caine wanted to steal away everybody that he'd ever loved, just like Sam had done to him. He had the perfect plan for it, too.

He would make Penny torture Astrid, and then send her over to Lake Tramonto. Sam would see her weak, defenseless, crazy, and most likely covered in blood. Sam would be overwhelmed with sympathy and remember how much he loved her. Sam would dump Diana for Astrid, leaving Diana to search for somebody new. At that point, Caine would make sure that he was the most desirable person in the FAYZ. Diana would realize that she was an idiot to have ever dumped him and come running back into his arms. It was foolproof!

Okay, so maybe it wasn't foolproof. Penny might not agree to work with him. Sam might not dump Diana for Astrid. Even if Sam was stupid enough to dump her, Diana might not want to jump right into another relationship. Also, Caine had never been very desirable. Diana was the first girl that he'd ever dated, and she hadn't been very impressed. Even Caine could admit that he hadn't treat her very well. There was no chance that he'd be able to charm her back into his life. Still, Caine was feeling strangely optimistic. It wasn't like he had anything left to lose.


	5. Bird Song

**A/N: WARNING: This chapter is pretty freaky. It is based off of Bird Song by Florence + The Machine. **

Astrid had found an empty house that wasn't completely destroyed. She didn't expect to stay there long, just until she decided where she'd be going next. Was this the life that Astrid was going to live? Was she doomed to be a nomad, wandering from place to place? Would she ever be accepted anywhere, ever again?

_Stop it, _Astrid thought to herself. Wallowing in her own self-pity wasn't going to solve anything.

"RAAAWK! MURDERER! MURDERER!"

Had that been a parrot? Why would there be a parrot in the FAYZ? That didn't make any sense. Then again, nothing made any sense in the FAYZ.

"RAAWK! BROTHER KILLER!"

Astrid ran to her window. Sitting in a large nest was a large red macaw. Its Technicolor plumage looked like something out of a movie. Ruby reds, emerald greens, and sapphire blues. The eyes weren't eyes at all, but glittering chunks of onyx. It would've been the most beautiful creature that Astrid had ever seen if not for the horrible cacophony that was its song. Like any parrot, it had an obnoxiously raspy voice. Unlike other parrots, this macaw's call sounded like somebody was gargling with a nasty concoction of nails, gravel, and battery acid.

"LITTLE PETE! LITTLE PETE!"

Astrid couldn't have this bird reminding the entire town of the worst thing she'd ever done. She had to kill it. No, she couldn't kill it. Not again. That couldn't be her solution to everything. Then again, it was just a bird. No, it still had a life and soul. She couldn't just rip that away. She'd just bring it inside. That would be a good idea. She could put it under something. That made birds stop singing.

Astrid walked outside with gardening gloves on her hand. She'd remembered people who handle eagles wear thick leather gloves and decided to protect her hands. Gardening gloves weren't exactly the best protection for her hands, but a macaw definitely wasn't an eagle.

"MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER! RAAAAWK!" the bird cried.

"Shut up, you stupid bird," Astrid muttered under her breath.

"LITTLE PETE! LITTLE PETE! RAWK!"

Astrid wasn't a professional bird handler, so she just reached out and grabbed it. The bird started flying around and screeching frantically. Everyone had to be staring. Astrid needed to get the bird inside, fast. She wrestled it into her sweatshirt, where its beak and feat ripped through the corner of her T shirt and into her skin. Astrid winced in pain. Astrid remembered seeing a documentary about parrots being strong, but not that strong.

When she got inside the parrot automatically flew to right side of her house, away from the window she had seen it out of. That was peculiar behavior for a bird. Then again, so was screaming about how Astrid had murdered Little Pete.

"MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER! RAWK!" the bird called.

The bird was being crazy. If it kept flying around like this it was going to wreck the house. Astrid grabbed a cardboard box and put it on top of the bird. She was trying to hold it down, but the bird was thrashing too hard. Astrid couldn't think of anything but to stand on top of the box. Unfortunately her weight was too much for the box and it collapsed beneath her feet. There was the sickening crack of tiny hollow bones. Astrid lifted the box and peeked at the bird's body. No, the bird's carcass. Astrid's mouth fell agape in horror.

"MURDERER! MURDERER! RAAAAWK!" the bird's song continued.

How could that be happening? The bird was dead, but the horrible voice kept squawking.

"MURDERER! BROTHER KILLER! LITTLE PETE! RAAAAWK!"

Where was that sound coming from?! Astrid looked around frantically. She didn't see the source of the voice, but she saw red feathers sprouting from her forearms. She wildly clawed at the feathers in hopes of getting them off, but they weren't coming off. She scratched so hard that it hurt. Every time that she opened her mouth to scream her voice was replaced with the parrot's horrible call.

Astrid couldn't take it. She wasn't saying this. She wasn't hearing this. It wasn't happening! Her hands flew from her arms to her ears in hopes of ending the terrible symphony of shrieks and cawing. It wasn't working. She couldn't bring a stop the hideous music. Then her eyes fell on a basket of knitting supplies in the corner of the room. Astrid was usually extremely rational, but the demonic cawing of the macaw had impaired that. She pulled a pair of glinting needles out of a ball of yarn. She grabbed one in each hand and thrust them deep into her ears. As the blood began to pour, Penny giggled from the open window. She had never had so much fun carrying out Caine's orders.

**A/N: Well…that was probably the freakiest thing that I've ever written. Sorry Astrid fans! Seriously, I don't hate Astrid, I just like Penny. I also think knitting needles are great weapons, for some reason. (I have another story called The First September where they get used a lot too. Luckily, they aren't used for nearly as terrible purposes as this). I promise that there will not be anything at this caliber of violence in the rest of this story. Please R&R, but if you're going to criticize do it constructively.**


	6. Funhouse

**A/N: The music has not lead Astrid to a very happy place. If there are any Astrid fans that are still reading this they probably need to reassess whether or not they really like Astrid. Seriously, are there any Astrid fans reading this? Are there any hardcore Astrid fans at all? Sorry this chapter took so long to update, I had a hard time finding a song for this. Eventually I came up with Funhouse by P!nk, which I don't own (DUH!). Please oh please oh please review. Special thanks to Goneismyfave1 (great name, by the way) for reviewing my last chapter. **

Astrid woke up swaddled in the most comfortable comforter she'd ever had the pleasure of sleeping in. Surprisingly, there was no pain in her ears. Her first reaction was that the bird incident had all just been a dream. She couldn't hope that she'd escaped the FAYZ since the house had some poorly covered graffiti on the otherwise flawless white walls.

After a few seconds she realized her theory couldn't be possible. She had never been in the elegant room before. It was decorated almost entirely in shades of gold and pearl. There was a fancy portrait of a happy looking couple in their early twenties within a gold frame hanging on the wall. Astrid didn't recognize either of them. This couldn't be reality. Astrid's family had lived in a nice neighborhood, but not this nice. On top of it all, both the linen sheets and Astrid's clothes were soaked in blood.

Still, she was perfectly fine. She leaped out of the covers like a little girl on Christmas and danced down the stairs just as fast. She was alive! She was sane! The sound of the hideous bird was finally gone!

Then, she heard two strange voices coming from the living room, one female and one male. The female voice sounded like Janis Joplin with a sore throat gargling gravel after a long smoke. She spoke with the tone of the irritable grandmothers that popped up in every corner of the pop culture universe. The masculine voice had the authoritative qualities of leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Martin Luther King. Fluctuating from humble to furious halfway through a sentence, but never lacking strength and power. It was so loud! In fact, they were both loud.

Astrid felt like her ears were going to explode. She cupped her hands over her ears, but it didn't block any of the sound out. She crouched down on the ground and shrieked in pain, but the only sound that came out was the worst noise of them all. It sounded like the shrieking off a tea kettle, but thousands of times louder.

Suddenly, the conversation stopped and Astrid could hear the thundering stampede of feet. She looked up to see Caine's satisfied smirk and Lana's bitter scowl.

"Are you okay?" Lana wondered in the hoarse female voice, "Are your ears alright?"

Did Astrid dare speak again? Was self-expression really worth the pain that she caused herself? She hoped that the hideous shriek that had become her voice was only an illusion. If it was she could eventually learn to overcome it, if it wasn't nobody would ever be able to understand her again.

"Pencil," was all that Astrid was willing to hear herself say.

Caine looked at Lana, as if he expected her to go get a pencil.

"This is your house, I don't know where the pencils are," she growled.

Caine muttered under his breath as he stormed off to find a writing utensil, which sounded more like somebody was shouting curse words in the middle of a bombing to Astrid.

Moments later, Caine returned with a pencil. When Astrid wrote, it made a horrendous scratching sound that was hard on her ears. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as the horrible shrieking noise she know heard whenever she tried to speak. Still, the noise was painful, so she kept her sentences short.

_**Yes and no. My ears FEEL fine, but everything sounds strange. Caine sounds like a politician with the world's most powerful microphone, you talk the way ADELE sings, and I sound like a tea kettle. It's all very loud and painful. Please whisper.**_

Astrid was never good at keeping things concise.

"I'm sorry," Lana whispered, "It's my fault your ears are like this. I tried to heal them, it must not have worked out right."

_**It's Ok.**_

It was one of the biggest lies Astrid had ever told, and she'd told a lot. She wasn't mad at Lana, but she was far from OK. She would never be able to have a normal conversation ever again. She could never listen to music, go anywhere with large crowds, or speak with curling up on the floor like Little Pete had once done.

It was ironic for Astrid to think how happy she'd been to simply be alive when she'd woken up. Her euphoric mood had quickly transformed into the beginning of a long gloomy depression.

_**How did this happen? How did I get here?**_

"That's simple," Caine began in his normal speaking voice. After seeing Astrid wince, he brought his volume down a little bit, "I sitting in my lair when somebody burst in and told me that they heard screaming coming from your house and that they'd seen Penny lurking outside of it. I knew that meant trouble, so I want down to check out what was happening. When I got there, Penny was nowhere to be found. I did, however, find you lying unconscious on the floor in a pool of your own blood. You had horrible scratches up your arms and there was blood dripping from your ears. Using my impeccable skills of deduction, I figured out that Penny had somehow tortured you into using the bloody knitting needles that lay next to you to inflict the scratches on yourself. You had lost a lot of blood and passed out. After discovering your body, I took you our Dahra as fast as I could. She gave you the blood that you needed, but you weren't healed yet. I wasn't done taking care of you yet, though. I let you stay in my home, using my very own bed while I went down to Cliffside to get Lana. After she got here, Lana healed your arms in less than a minute. Unfortunately there some things that even our fabulous healer can't fix, which is why your ears turned out the way they did."

_**Wait, where are you going to sleep if I got blood all over your bed?**_

"Oh, Astrid. You're so caring and considerate. I'll be taking the third best house in Perdido Beach purely for your comfort."

_**That's no sacrifice. Cut the flattery. Who's in the second best house?**_

"Penny."

_**Why didn't you evict her as punishment for torturing me? It would make you seem fair and gain respect for you.**_

"I need to keep Penny happy so she'll keep doing what I want instead of terrorizing my kingdom."

_**It's a city, not a kingdom; you overdramatic twit. Also, isn't she already terrorizing it? Torturing me can't be what you want her to do, is it?**_

"Of course not."

_**Then why is she torturing me?**_

"She did it secretly. I can't have eyes on every part of my KINGDOM, can I?"

_**Yes, but nothing's secret with Taylor. Where was she during all of this?**_

"Busy."

_**Doing what?**_

"Delivering a message to the lake."

_**What message?**_

"That's none of your business. I can ensure you that it's extremely important kingly business."

Astrid was done with this conversation. It wasn't worth the ear pain. Caine wasn't going to give her answers anytime soon. She rose to her feet and softly tiptoed out of Caine's house. As she walked down the street she crashed into Penny, who was hidden behind an armful of clothes.

"What are you doing?" Astrid forced herself to ask. Penny must've been able to detect Astrid's pain, because she giggled sadistically.

"Moving," Penny said in the hideous voice of the parrot.

Astrid's expression of terror made Penny beam with pride.

"Second best house in Perdido Beach?" Astrid wondered, feeling more pain and terror than she'd felt in long time.

"Caine said it was the best! That bastard!" Penny squawked, "Last time I make a deal with him."

Astrid's feet pounded louder than they should have as she ran away from a Penny. Caine had told Penny to torture her! Why would he do that? Was it a trap for Sam? Something else entirely? Astrid didn't care why, she just wanted payback.

The first Astrid Ellison had burnt up in the flames of her old house. Now, the second would go down with the two best houses in Perdido Beach.


End file.
